A Yellow Ribbon
by chinocoop81
Summary: Ryan goes to war for three years, leaving Marissa behind. He sends a letter to her, stating that if she still wants him to put a yellow ribbon on the tree.  Based off of Tony Orlando's song. RM


**A/N I know I should be writing for my stories, but this idea came into my head. It's based off of the song, 'Tie a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree' by Tony Orlando. And guess what? NO ONE DIES!!! So r/r and enjoy!**

He was finally coming home. That's all that was on Ryan Atwood's mind as he walked off the plane and towards the crowd of waiting people. He looked around and saw Sandy and Kirsten waiting for him with large grins on their happy faces and he smiled weakly too. She wasn't here, that's the thing that he noticed. Yeah, he'd told her not to come to the airport, but he still was slightly disappointed that she hadn't showed up to welcome him home. He walked towards his adoptive parents and was enveloped in a large hug. "We missed you so much." Kirsten said when they pulled back.

He nodded and smiled saying, "I missed you guys too."

Sandy put his hand on Ryan's back and together they walked to go get his bags. He was quiet the whole way, thinking about her like he had so much for the past three years. Sandy watched him while he was looking for his bags and said, "You told her not to come."

He nodded and grabbed his bag. "Didn't mean I didn't want her to." He said quietly as they walked to the car and drove away from the Orange County Airport.

_**I'm comin' home, I've done my time  
Now I've got to know what is and isn't mine  
If you received my letter telling you I'd soon be free  
Then you'll know just what to do  
If you still want me  
**_

_She walked into the house with the mail, flipping through the different sized envelopes to see which belonged to which person. She came upon a letter addressed to a Mr. Ryan Atwood and saw the logo of the army on the top. She looked at it confusedly before ripping it open and scanning the letter quickly with her eyes. 'Ship off date is May 18th.' She walked towards him confusedly and interrupted him watching TV. "What's this?" She asked, handing him the letter._

_He looked at it and sighed, not meeting her gaze. "I…"_

"_You joined the army?" She stated. When he didn't say anything she got furious. "How the hell could you do something like that without telling me?"_

"_Marissa…" He started, but she cut him off._

"_I can't believe you. After everything that we've been through you'd just go and do something stupid like that." She stormed away and slammed their bedroom door behind her. _

_He sighed and got up. They had been through a lot over the past couple of years. After the car accident on graduation night, Marissa had gone into a coma. He'd stayed by her bedside that whole summer and had even skipped the first semester of college. When all hope was beginning to be lost and Christmas time was near, she finally woke up, him being the first thing she saw. She'd had to go through a lot of physical therapy to get her body back in shape after so long of just lying there but he'd helped her through the whole thing, and she ended up going to college with him. They had gotten back together and moved into this apartment a couple of months ago and were perfectly happy until this happened._

"_Marissa." He said softly through the door. "Open up please."_

"_Why should I?" He heard her ask angrily from the other side._

"_Because I asked you to nicely." he replied, leaning against the wall by the door. "And because I love you and want to talk to you."_

"_Apparently you're not interested in talking or else you would've told me about this sooner." She replied bitterly. She opened the door and had her purse in her hand and shoes on her feet. "I'm going out." She stated, walking towards the front door._

_He went after her and said, "Don't make this difficult."_

_She glared at him and said, "You've already done a good job at that." And then she left, slamming the door behind her._

The drive to the Cohen house was a silent one since he really wasn't in much of a mood to talk. He rested his head against the window of the car and watched the Newport scenery pass him by and thought about her again, Marissa. He hadn't meant to make her upset, it had just been something he had to do. Most people probably joined the army when they were fresh out of high school, but he decided to do his duty after college. He had wanted to do something that would make a difference and that's why he'd joined. He had never guessed that it would strain his relationship with Marissa. He had never wanted to strain his relationship with her, he loved her.

"_I don't want to fight." He said softly, looking her in the eye. _

_She sighed and looked down and then back up at him. "Neither do I." She whispered, tears falling down her cheeks._

_He wiped them away with his thumb and then kissed her long and slow, tasting the saltiness of her tears on her lips. The kiss was simple and sweet but tender and loving at the same time. He kissed her, telling her everything that words couldn't and when they pulled back, they were both breathless. "It's not going to be forever." He said softly, kissing her forehead tenderly._

_She looked into his eyes and said, "There's a chance that it might."_

When they arrived at the Cohen house, he walked inside, feeling kind of better that he was here again and not overseas. He walked in further to see Seth and Summer there with smiles on their faces. He dropped his bag and smiled back and Summer came up to him and gave him a hug. "It's nice to have you back Atwood." She said with a large smile. "I know we all missed you."

Seth came up to him next and gave him a small hug too and said, "yeah, of course we have. It just isn't the same without you here buddy."

He smiled and said, "It's good to see everyone again." he looked around and saw that she wasn't here and took in a deep breath. He tried to hold himself together, to seem strong but really he was wondering why she wasn't here. Was she still mad?

_**If you still want me  
Whoa, tie a yellow ribbon 'round the old oak tree  
It's been three long years  
Do ya still want me?  
**_

"_So when's your ship off date?" Sandy asked him with a sad face. _

_He took in a deep breath and said, "May 18th." _

"_Oh." Was all Sandy said. It was easier to tell the Cohens about him joining the army than telling Marissa. She was still upset with him and he was leaving in exactly a month and five days. "Well we'll have a going away party on the seventeenth then."_

_Kirsten who had been quiet said, "Yeah, we'll have Seth and Summer come over and maybe some other Newpsies and stuff."_

_He laughed and Sandy said, "I don't know if Ryan's last night in Newport he wants to deal with the Newpsies honey."  
_

_Kirsten laughed and said, "But it would be a great way to say goodbye. You'll be the talk of the town."_

_He smiled and nodded. "I can't wait." He said, though truthfully he would much rather not have to go at all. He was the one that had signed up, yes, but he also loved Marissa and the Cohens and did not want to say what could possibly be their last goodbye._

Summer watched him and as if she was reading his mind said, "She wanted to come…but she had something she needed to do."

He just nodded and looked down, thinking how Summer probably just made that up to cover the fact that she didn't want him anymore. Sandy came up behind him and said, "Let's get something to eat shall we, I for one am starving."

He looked at Sandy with a grateful look and said, "Yeah, I missed eating with you guys."

Kirsten went into the kitchen and he followed her, seeing that she'd made a meal for them to eat before she picked him up from the airport. "Well, I've missed cooking for you." Kirsten said with a smile. She turned to him and said, "We've all missed you…even Marissa."

He shook his head and said, "We left on bad terms, she probably doesn't even want me anymore."

Kirsten looked at him and then said, "You'll see her later. I think she still loves you."

He sighed and looked down. "Yeah, I hope so."

_**If I don't see a ribbon round the old oak tree  
I'll stay on the bus  
Forget about us  
Put the blame on me  
If I don't see a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree  
**_

_He woke up with her looking at him and he smiled at her. "What are you looking at me for?" He asked._

_She stared intently at him for a while and then said, "I want to remember."_

"_Remember what?" He asked, a little confused._

_She looked into his eyes and said, "Remember you, in case after tomorrow I never see you again."_

They all sat at the table, a spot next to him empty. As they ate, he kept glancing at it, thinking that maybe she'll magically appear if he stared at it long enough. She never did though and he was left with memories of the last time he ate here with the Cohens. It was the night before he left and they were having a small get together, Kirsten finding that the Newpsies would just ruin everything and that the goodbye should only be between the family.

_She stared at the food in front of her, not really eating. He watched her with concern and said, "Marissa, you need to eat."_

_She didn't look at him but said, "Don't tell me what to do."_

_He was tired of her being mad at him all the time. He wanted to remember her these next three years for how amazing she was, not for the countless arguments they'd had over the past couple of months. "Can we not argue?" He asked quietly._

"_Yeah, if you don't tell me what to do." She replied. She pushed back her food and said, "You know what, I'm not too hungry and I don't want to ruin anyone's dinner so I'll just leave." She stood up and walked away and he sighed and gave the Cohens an apologetic look before he followed her._

"_You can't just leave." He said, catching her by the front door. _

"_Watch me." She replied bitterly, walking through the front door._

_He followed her and said, "Marissa, I'm leaving tomorrow."_

_She looked at him and said, "As if I don't know. It's all I can think about, how you're just leaving me."_

"_I'm not just leaving you." He said softly. He took the keys out of her hand and said, "I'd never just leave like that. I'm coming back." He said firmly. "I promise."_

"_Don't make a promise you can't keep Ryan." She said, and then walked off, leaving him in the front of the Cohens house, wondering how he could possibly fix this._

Everyone was silent, even Seth which was rare. He sighed and after a while said, "I'm sorry."

Sandy looked at him confusedly and asked, "For what?"

"For acting like I don't care about you guys. I am glad to be home…I'm just thinking of Marissa." He said softly. He thought of her smile and her laugh and their last night together.

"We all understand, there's no need to apologize." Seth said.

Sandy nodded and stood up and left the room. When he came back, he held the keys to the car and said, "Let's go."

He looked at Sandy like he was crazy. "Go where?"

"To see her." Sandy said. "She's at home."

He stood up after a while and said, "Thanks." He turned to everyone and they all nodded for him to go. He smiled at them weakly and then followed Sandy to the Range Rover, nervous to whether or not she wanted him back.

_**Bus driver, please look for me  
'cause I couldn't bear to see what I might see  
I'm really still in prison  
And my love, she holds the key  
A simple yellow ribbon's what I need to set me free  
I wrote and told her please  
**_

_The drive home was a silent one. Marissa had come back after a long walk and they had decided that it was time to say goodnight. After some emotional goodbyes they were on their way back to their small home in Newport, near the numbered streets. Sandy and Kirsten had wanted to buy them their own Mc Mansion but they had refused, wanting to be able to say that they'd paid for the house on their own. Their house had a tree in their front yard, something that you didn't see much of in their neighborhood. They had fallen in love with the little two bedroom house and now proudly called it home. They were going to buy a bigger one as they made more money, but for now they were completely happy where they were._

_He glanced over at her when they arrived home and she got out of the car quickly, opening the front door before he had even reached it. She went into their room and he watched her sadly, wondering if she hated him for leaving. He walked into the bedroom and saw her laying down in the bed, her back turned from him. She was quick, he knew that. He undressed until he was only in his boxers and wife beater and then got in the bed next to her, looking at her back. After a couple of minutes, she turned around and he could see that she'd been crying. They stared at each other for a while and then he said, "I have to do this, and I hope you can support me."_

_She didn't say anything, just nodded. He decided to continue and said, "I wanted you and the Cohens to be proud of me, and it was sort of a spur of the moment thing. I wanted to be honored by someone after everything I've been through. I'm just hoping you'll understand." She again didn't say anything, just looked at him. "Marissa?" He asked, wanting some type of answer from her._

"_I love you." Was all she said. She kissed him then, not a soft and gentle kiss like they usually shared, but a hard and passionate one. She kissed him until he could no longer breathe and had to pull back for air. And then she put her warm hands underneath his wife beater and pulled it over his head and threw it on the floor. They continued kissing, shredding each other of their clothes. They let their tongues mingle with the other's and they ran their hands over each other's bodies, touching and squeezing the other._

_And when he entered her, it wasn't slow and gentle like it usually was. He moved within her fast and hard, taking them to places that they'd never been. She screamed and moaned his name, digging her nails into his back, leaving marks that wouldn't disappear anytime soon, and he kissed her to silence her. And when they both came, they were exhausted and he collapsed in the spot next to her. They clung to each other as if they were afraid the other would disappear if they didn't and kissed each other sweetly. He fell asleep after a while but she stayed awake, wondering if this would be her last night with him. When she was sure he was asleep she whispered, "I love you, and I understand why you're doing this." She saw his chest rise and fall and then said, "But I could never support you." Then she cuddled up against his chest and fell asleep._

Sandy turned to him and said, "We're all proud of you Ryan."

He smiled and nodded. "I know." He said softly. "I just hope she is."

Sandy nodded his head and said, "I know for a fact she is." They continued the drive and he said, "She was a mess without you those first couple of months."

"And then she moved on." He said, hoping it wasn't true.

Sandy shrugged and said, "It got easier for us to live without you."

_**Whoa, tie a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree  
It's been three long years  
Do ya still want me?**_

"That's comforting." He said with a sigh.

"I don't mean it like that." Sandy said. He sighed and said, "It got easier for us to have dinner with each other without thinking about what you were doing as we were eating take out or watching TV. We stopped worrying and began to learn that whatever was going to happen was bound to happen whether we wanted it to or not." He was quiet and then he said, "One day, Marissa began to smile again, something we thought she'd never do again after you left."

_They walked through the airport, avoiding going to the security line. After they had delayed it long enough he turned and looked at her and saw her eyes were watery. He stared at her for a long time before finally saying, "This is it."_

_She nodded and said, "I guess it is." _

_He swallowed hard and said, "I want you to know that I love you." He took in a shaky breath and then said, "And that I never wanted to hurt you."_

_She looked at him and said, "You're acting like you're dying."_

_He was quiet, thinking about how this could be the last time he saw her. "Marissa…"_

"_No, Ryan. I'm not going to be saying goodbye like this." She said, beginning to cry. "Whether you think you're going to come back home or not you will. If you have even a small doubt in your mind that you won't come back to me, then you won't."_

"_How can I not think it?" he asked with a sigh. "Chances are that I just might never come home."_

"_That's really comforting." She said, looking away from him._

"_It's true though. Is there anything that you want to say to me?" He looked into her eyes and wiped away some of her tears. "Anything that you want me to know?"_

_She pulled away from him and said, "I love you Ryan, but I'm not going to do this." She started walking away._

"_What if this is the last time we ever see each other? You're just walking away." He called after her._

_She turned and glared at him. "No Ryan, I'm staying here at home. It's you who's walking away." And then she walked off, leaving him all alone in the middle of an airport wondering if he'd ever see her again.**  
**_

_**If I don't see a ribbon round the old oak tree  
I'll stay on the bus  
Forget about us  
Put the blame on me  
If I don't see a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree  
**_

Sandy glanced at him and Ryan said, "Will you do me a favor?"

Sandy nodded and said, "Yeah, what?"

He sighed and looked out the window. "When we get there, can you look and see if there's a ribbon for me?"

Sandy looked at him strangely and said, "Yeah, but why?"

"I wrote to Marissa telling her that if she still wanted me, to tie a yellow ribbon around the tree in the front yard." He looked at his hands in his lap and said, "I don't think I'd be able to look for myself and see nothing there."

_It was a boring day where he was stationed so he decided to write her a letter. He'd just received word that he was coming home in two months, and he wanted to tell her. He wrote her almost everyday, telling her about what he was feeling like, how he was holding up, how much he loved her. He never got a letter back because he was always moving around, he could never give her a definite address, at least that's why he hoped he never received any letters. He got a piece of paper and a pen and started writing what was on his mind._

'_Dear Marissa,_

_My sergeant let me know the other day that I'm coming home in a couple of months. I'm excited to finally get back to Newport, to you and the Cohens. I'll send them a letter later in the week to tell them I'm coming home…today I just really wanted to send one to you. I miss you so much, more than I ever thought possible. It seems that ever since you got out of that coma all those years ago that I've been attached to you more so than I used to. Being here without you is the hardest thing I've ever had to do._

_I know we didn't leave on good terms, but I hope we can look past that. I think about you all the time, you're all I think about. I wish I knew if you were still in love with me or if you've found someone else. I know I never really asked you to wait, I guess I just thought that you would. I wouldn't hold it against you if you didn't. You deserve someone, even if it isn't me._

_I don't really know what to say, you out of everyone know that I've never been too good with words. When I come back to the airport, I don't want you to be there. I want our hello to be private, something for only the two of us to see. So when I get home I'm going to ask the Cohens to pick me up at the airport and then drive me to our house…or what used to be our house. If you still want me, if you still want to be an us, then put a yellow ribbon around the tree. If I don't see one, I'll ask the Cohens to just keep driving. _

_So until next time, _

_Ryan'_

_**Now the whole damned bus is cheerin'  
And I can't believe I see  
**_

As they got close to the house, he closed his eyes and refused to look out the window. He could tell when they were in front of the house because of Sandy's quiet gasps. He figured that meant that she didn't want him anymore and he prepared himself for the sight of the bare tree but instead Sandy said, "Open your eyes and look."

He slowly opened his eyes and turned, expecting the tree to not have anything on it, but instead was met by what looked like hundreds of yellow ribbons. He blinked fast, thinking that he was imagining things, but then soon realized he wasn't. He turned to Sandy who was smiling and said, "You knew."

_**A hundred yellow ribbons round the old oak tree**_

Sandy shrugged and said, "She told us she had something important to do to welcome you today, so we kind of figured what she was up to when we saw her with tons of bags of yellow ribbons." He turned and looked at all the ribbons again and Sandy said, "What are you waiting for kid?"

He shrugged and said, "I'm just in shock." He opened the door and got the bag out of the trunk before turning to Sandy and saying, "Thanks for driving me."

Sandy smiled and said, "No problem, just let us know how it all works out okay?"

He nodded and said, "Will do." He shut the door and trunk and watched Sandy drive off before turning back to the tree. There were yellow ribbons all over it, big and small and then he turned to the porch where there were yellow ribbons tied to that as well. He started walking towards the front door when it swung open, revealing Marissa.

She had on a large smile and an old shirt of his that hung loosely off of her skinny body. He saw tears in her eyes and she took a step towards him. He stayed where he was, letting her make the move. When she reached him, she looked into his eyes and asked, "How could you ever question whether or not I would want you or would wait for you?"

He shrugged and said, "Let's be honest…it wasn't exactly the happiest parting at the airport."

She nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Yeah, and I'm sorry for that." She said, her face just inches away from his. She looked down at his lips and then back up into his eyes and said, "But we're here now right?"

He nodded and she kissed him softly. He pulled away quickly and she looked at him confusedly. "Before we do that, there's something I need to know." He said.

"Okay." She looked at him, waiting for him to talk.

He took a step back and pulled a box out of his pocket. He got down on one knee and looked up into her watery eyes and opened it up, revealing a ring. "I was going to ask you at the airport…but you left before I could." He took in a deep breath and then said, "Will you marry me?"

She smiled and let him put the ring on her finger. "Yes." She said, and he stood up and kissed her deeply. "Yes." she mumbled again against his lips and he smiled, feeling that everything was finally good again. They walked into their house, hand in hand and smiling and started to plan the rest of their lives.

_**I'm comin' home**_


End file.
